very so often, I feel the need to devote most of an issue of Alter
Ego to Superman. Oddly, I never feel that same urge with regard
to Batman—or Spider-Man—or even Conan the Barbarian (not
that I don’t think each of those heroes also deserves being spotlighted in
an issue now and then, mind!).
Although not a rabid Superman fan
since I left childhood, I feel this urge
because the Man of Steel was the first,
and to me remains the ultimate, comic
book super-hero. The one who,
whatever his literary or artistic
forebears, launched a genre—and, in an
equally true sense, an entire industry.
(And besides, this time, it’s been exactly
70 years ago that Supes flung his first
flivver, on the cover of Action Comics
#1! Happy birthday, Kal!)

Chris Knowles couldn’t be squeezed in at the last moment, and must
appear in some future issue—hopefully not having to wait for the next
Superman showcase in A/E. My abject apologies to all three.
One personal indulgence: because of
both the Superman focus, and the
parallel-world pyrotechnics of Bob
Rozakis’ fantasy chapter that begins on
p. 55, here’s a photo of Yers Truly with
the ever-lovely, ever-gracious Noel
Neill, the movies’ first and foremost
Lois Lane… taken by Jody McGhee at a
2005 mini-convention (in Rock Hill,
South Carolina, if memory serves).
There’ve gotta be some perks to
spending all this time every few weeks
putting together a magazine about
comic books!

So, naturally, once again, as we used
to say back in Missouri, my eyes were
bigger than my stomach—with the
unfortunate end result that articles
prepared by my honored colleagues
Mike W. Barr, Alberto Becattini, and

Bestest,

COMING IN AUGUST

#

80

SWORD-&-SORCERY
IN COMICS—PART ONE!
Before Conan—After Conan—And In Between!

Superman’s 70th!
Celebrating The Talent Of Seven Of The Man Of Steel’s
Top Early Illustrators

A/E

by Eddy Zeno

EDITOR’S NOTE: Eddy Zeno, a
longtime contributor to this magazine,
is also the author of Curt Swan: A Life
in Comics, published by Vanguard Press (2002). He prepared
this salute to a septet of major “Superman” illustrators in honor
of the super-hero’s 70th year in print. Regrettably, we didn’t
have room to run all the art Eddy supplied, but we’ve done our
best in the space available. (One Joe Shuster sketch he sent
appears on p. 12, accompanying Brad Ricca’s interview with
Joe’s sister Jean.) Now, onward… after we pass on Eddy grateful
thanks to all those who’re acknowledged below. Most art images
in this article are first- or second-generation copies of the
original art. The photos of the creators have been added by Ye
Editor.

“I Was Just The Kid Sister
Peeking Around The Corner”
JEAN SHUSTER PEAVY Talks About Her Big Brother JOE—
Co-creator Of Superman

W

Interview by Brad Ricca

hen we think of Jerry Siegel and Joe Shuster, we think of
them, irrevocably, as a duo. But for many of their adventures in Cleveland, Ohio, they had another accomplice:
Joe’s little sister Jean. Now 85 and living in Santa Fe, New Mexico, Jean
Shuster Peavy is our last, best link to her brother Joe. When I first wrote
Jean last spring, I wasn’t sure if I was even writing to the right person.
When she did respond, in a chunky blue cursive on flowered stationery,
I was very excited. Because, like any little sister, she has lots to say.
In this partial transcript of our talk, Jean dispels some of the
standard, seldom-questioned myths about her brother as a geeky teen
afraid of girls and gives us a fuller picture of the artist who, before (and
better than) anyone else, visually defined the super-hero with that jaw,
that hair, and that squint. Like a few other people closely tied to the
Superman mythos, Jean was taken aback by some of the material in

Gerard Jones’ Eisner
Award-winning book Men
of Tomorrow: Geeks,
Gangsters, and the Birth
of the Comic Book
(2004). Much of this is
due to the unfortunate
lack—and imbalance—of
factual material we have
on “The Boys.” For, while
Siegel and Shuster are
still thought of (rightly,
wonderfully so) as true
collaborators, we have
always known more about Jerry than we do
about Joe. Is it because of their differing personalities? Or because
(as Jones also states) myth has become so entwined with fact when
it comes to Superman? Either way, there is more we can learn,
especially from Jean in this interview, conducted on June 24, 2005,
over a very long phone call stretched from New Mexico to
Cleveland. Plus, she sings. —Brad Ricca.
BRAD RICCA: Let’s start with Gerard Jones’ book Men of
Tomorrow. What did you think of it?
JEAN SHUSTER PEAVY: He [Gerard Jones] never interviewed me,
so he can’t get into Joe’s personal life like he did. As I read it, it
sounds to me like—well, I know Joe and Jerry were nerds in high
school, but they got out of that. [laughs] I mean, Jerry got married,
but my brother Joe didn’t remain a nerd. As a matter of fact, when
he first got out of high school, he met a girl. They were going
together and were pretty serious.
BR: So he wasn’t a nerd?
PEAVY: No. He always drew pictures of Superman for anybody,
you know, if they met him and he was asked. He was always
willing to do that. Gerard Jones was only guessing. There might
have been some girl… maybe he took her out for a soda. If you

really want to know, ask me!
The way [the book] made it
sound, Joe couldn’t get a girl!
Actually, Joe loved tall,
beautiful showgirls and models
and [laughter] he dated a lot of
them! He was what you call a
“Stagedoor Johnny.” I don’t
know if you ever heard of that
expression, but if he would see a
girl in a show... for instance, one
was in The Red Mill, a beautiful
opera, and boy, he thought that
girl, one of the leading ladies, was beautiful and talented! He went
backstage and brought her flowers and asked her out to supper, and they
began dating. He’d meet her every night and take her out, he’d bring her
radios, flowers, little gifts. I went out with them on a double date… they
really liked each other…but this was more of a fantasy for him; it wasn’t
anything serious. He dated a lot of girls—beautiful ones—he’d just pick
the most beautiful models and girls! He
met a lot of them. He got around a lot
in New York [laughs] when he was
there… dealing with a lot of famous
people, a lot of showpeople—one
person knows another, etc.
BR: So Superman gave him some
confidence?
PEAVY: Yes. He was a nerd in high
school, no question about that. You
know he and Jerry were just skinny
kids at the drawing board all the time.
Joe tried to build himself up... this was
back in the ’30s. Joe tried weightlifting,
and he ran in track in high school. Jesse
Owens had been an Olympic champion
several years before—but Joe ran track
besides going to the gym a couple times
a week and, you know, lifting weights.
He would try to eat steak and drink a
couple quarts of milk to build himself
up, to gain the weight. Unfortunately,
he eventually he gained too much,
[laughs] but really
he didn’t gain too
All’s Fair…
much weight until
Joe in the 1940s, with an unidentified neighbor—and a
after he lost
DC house ad for the 1939 New York World’s Fair Comics,
Superman and
with an inset Superman drawing by Shuster. Most likely
went into poverty.
it was Photostatted from a story panel and finished off
But up until
1947, when they
lost the lawsuit,
he was just…
strong and built

well and looked well and aggressive enough to date these gorgeous girls! It
was after they lost the lawsuit that they went into depression, both Joe and
Jerry. That was a very sad story in the history of the comic book field.
And I think Gerard Jones pretty well presented the comic book industry
side of it, talking about Donenfeld and Leibowitz and who they were. I
think he did a pretty good job.
BR: So what was it like growing up in Glenville [Ohio]?
PEAVY: When we lived there, everybody was poor, but I don’t think it
was run down. But it was still one of the poorer neighborhoods. I
remember going out and shopping with my parents every Saturday night.
And Joe was always with Jerry, you know; they would just stay at home.
They didn’t chase girls in those days, not at all, because they were just too
busy getting ideas.
It depends on what period of time we’re talking about. They had a little
bit of money when they began selling their first early comics. I remember
we did not have a radio until I was 12 years old, so actually we didn’t even
have a radio in the house until Joe was 18 and began earning money from
the comics. All we had was what you’d call a Victrola. And I remember we
had records, and that was about it. I remember we had some Dinah Shore
and Ella Fitzgerald; that was before Frank Sinatra came along. They had
some good old music, but that’s all we ever had. Can you imagine growing
up in a home: no television, no video games, not even a radio?
BR: So you hung out with both of them?
PEAVY: I’m six years younger than Joe. And so I’d tag along with [both
of] them, they’d be my babysitter. I remember Jerry would say “Hey, look

18

“K” Is For “Krypton”
Continuing The Saga Of The Fabled Lost “K-Metal”
Story—One Of Superman’s Greatest Adventures!
by Roy Thomas
ecognize the splash page below, from an early “Superman”
story?
No, I didn’t think so.
Because, to the best of our knowledge, it has never been printed
anywhere before this issue of Alter Ego.

Neither have the three pages from the same “Superman” adventure
which appear on pp. 22-24.
Yet they are from a story which, had it been published soon after it was
written and drawn—in 1940—would have changed the way that you, and
I, and everyone remember the Man of Steel over all the years since.

Every comic book aficionado has his or her own “Holy Grail”—that
elusive item he/she would most like to find and make the crowning jewel
of his/her collection.
For some, it’s a particular issue of a comic—for others it’s a page of
original artwork from a favorite story, or even just a tantalizing tidbit of
knowledge. For me, the Grail has always been to learn something new
about the 1940-1951 All-Star Comics. (You didn’t know that? You’re new
around here, aren’t you?) And, as a corollary to the above, I’ve kept an eye
open for years for any additional art from or information concerning that
mostly-lost mid-1940s “Justice Society of America” tale “The Will of
William Wilson!”

Clearly, these pages were part of a ground-breaking epic… even
though Steranko’s book contains no other mention of it, or anything
whatever about its plotline or potential importance to “Superman” continuity, in its tabloid-sized pages. We won’t be printing any of that foursome
in this issue of A/E, because Jim hasn’t given us permission to do so, and
we intend to respect his wishes, even though any copyright on them
clearly belongs to DC Comics. If you want to see those pages, seek out a
copy of the landmark Steranko History of Comics, Vol. 1. Bring your
magnifying glass. (Incidentally, the four pages reproduced in that tome
are pp. 8, 15, 21, and 23 of the story.)

But there’s another comic book story—
one that, I freely admit, is far more important
historically than that “Will”-o-the-wisp “JSA”
exploit—which is and deserves to be the
Grail of a number of serious fans, collectors,
and comics historians.
It’s an early “Superman” adventure—
starring the first and greatest comic book
super-hero.
Nowadays, it’s usually referred to as “The
K-Metal Story.”
The first thing most of us knew about that
epoch-making tale didn’t involve its subject
matter at all, but was simply the fact that the
first volume of Jim Steranko’s The Steranko
History of Comics (Supergraphics, 1970)
printed four pages from it, terming it “an
unpublished Superman story, circa 1939.”
They were all reproduced rather small (3¼”
by a little over 5½”), and unfortunately quite
a few lines of both text and art either reproduced poorly or dropped out entirely. Still,
the pages were intriguing for their very
existence—and, even more so, for what they
contained!
The first depicts the Man of Tomorrow
flying down to a landing—only to find that
his legs buckle under him at the impact. At
the bottom of the page, he’s struck by a car—
and, to his great surprise, he’s bowled over!
The second illustrates Clark Kent’s first
exposure to what is obviously kryptonite,
which causes him to collapse. The scientist
who shows it to him experiences, at the same
time, “a sensation of amazing well being”
[sic].
The third has Clark changing to
Superman in full view of Lois Lane and other
“prisoners of a sealed mine,” sacrificing his
secret identity in order to save their lives.
(Oddly, too, given the 13-page length of the
standard “Superman” outing up through the
early 1940s, this page seemed to be
numbered “21”!)
The fourth is a more standard page than
the other three. Still, as Superman flies with
Lois in his arms, she says, “This is the first
time I’ve seen you doubt your own ability!”

The Reich Strikes Back
A Close LOOK At The Nazis Vs. Superman in 1940
by Dwight R. Decker

I

The Persistence Of A Legend

t’s no secret that Superman fought against the Nazis in World War II.
But—did the Nazis fight against him?

A persistent rumor about Superman is that the character was
denounced during the Second World War by no less a personage than Dr.
Joseph Goebbels, the Nazi propaganda minister, during a fiery speech to
the Reichstag, the German parliament. The reason for the tirade, the story
goes, was a comic book sequence or cover in which Superman was shown
demolishing a line of German forts on the Atlantic coast. One version of

the story, as given in Time magazine (April 9, 1965) quoting an Italian
Communist newspaper, even has Dr. Goebbels exclaiming that “This
‘Superman’ is a Jew!”—presumably in reference to the ethnic origin of
Superman’s creators.
However, the actual story isn’t quite so neatly packaged. Anton
Hermus, a Dutch comics expert, was sufficiently intrigued by the rumor
of Goebbels’ denunciation of Superman that in 1987 he decided to
research it further, hoping to find out exactly what Goebbels said, in what
context, and when. But, after reading through collections of Reichstag
speeches and corresponding with various historical associations, Hermus

came to the conclusion that the story, at least in its traditional form, is a
myth.
One appearance of this story in print, pointed out to me recently by
comics fan and translator Marc Miyake, is the introductory essay “The
Man of Tomorrow and the Boys of Yesterday,” by Dennis Dooley, for his
and Gary Engle’s 1987 Octavia Press book Superman at Fifty: The
Persistence of a Legend:
“Indeed, the Nazis took such a whale of a beating at the hands
of Siegel and Shuster’s hero, both on land and in the air, that Nazi
Minister of Propaganda Joseph Goebbels himself is said to have
bounded to his feet in the middle of a Reichstag meeting waving
an American comic book and furiously denouncing Superman as
a Jew.”
“Persistence of a Legend” is an unusually apt subtitle here. No
documented source for the Goebbels story is given. It’s “said” that it
happened—but who says it? The story has been picked up and passed on,
some variations even replacing Goebbels with Hitler, as in Gerard Jones’
book Men of Tomorrow: Geeks, Gangsters and the Birth of the Comic
Book (Basic Books, 2004, page 162): “Hitler had already denounced
Superman as a Jew and banned him...”
So far as can be determined, Superman was never denounced by Dr.
Goebbels or anyone else in any Reichstag speech. This makes sense, when
you think about it. With a war on in Europe by late 1939, top-ranking
Nazi officials had more on their minds
than some relatively minor manifestation of American popular culture.
Further, if a high-placed Nazi official
had made such a spectacle of himself in
a public place like the Reichstag to
denounce a fictional American
character, it should have made international news. But no mention of such an
incident has as yet been found either in
contemporary press accounts or in
histories of the war published since.

over the “i” in “Siegel”), which can be translated as “Jerry Siegel Steps In!,”
reproduces a visual sequence in which Superman destroys a line of
German forts, thus matching the legend to a considerable degree. This
being 1940, however, the fortifications are the German “West Wall” that
faced the infamous Maginot Line on the border with France, not the
French Atlantic coast. The strip simply shows Superman demolishing the
bunkers, then polishing off an attacking airplane. At the end, he delivers
Hitler and Stalin to a meeting of the League of Nations, announcing:
“Gentlemen, I’ve brought before you the two power-mad scoundrels
responsible for Europe’s present ills. What is your judgment?”
This story was clearly written and drawn during the 1939-1941 period
when Hitler and Stalin had a Non-aggression Pact (signed in late August
1939) and had divided Poland between them under a secret clause in that
agreement. In American popular literature of the time, Stalin was
frequently lumped in with Hitler and Mussolini as one of Europe’s
villainous dictators. And, in fact, the USSR was virtually an ally of Nazi
Germany. Later, when Hitler invaded the Soviet Union in June of 1941,
that perception did a sudden about-face, and Stalin found himself on the
unlikely side of the angels.

“LOOK! Up In The Sky!”
Hermus then wondered where the reproduced “Superman” sequence
originated, as it begins almost too abruptly for a typical comic book story.
Could it even be a German forgery? Since I was writing a column for the
comics fan-magazine Amazing Heroes at the time and had mentioned in
print that I could read both Dutch and
German, Hermus got in touch with me
and asked me to see what I could find
out.

Das Schwarze Korps
The next question Anton Hermus
addressed was whether the myth had
any connection at all with reality. Surely
the legend had started somewhere.
After further research, Hermus finally
came up with the probable source of the
story: an article in the April 25, 1940,
issue of Das Schwarze Korps (The
Black Corps), the newspaper of Hitler’s
SS. (From my own reading, I’ve
gathered that Das Schwarze Korps was
more than just a house organ for the
Schutzstaffel: it had a more freewheeling editorial policy than most of
the Nazi press, covered a broad range of
topics, and was widely read outside the
SS.) According to Hermus, this
particular article appeared on a page
that the newspaper customarily
reserved for amusing or lightweight
pieces.

It’s the Feb. 27, 1940, issue of Look
magazine, one of the popular picture
magazines of the day (in the style of the
even more popular Life), which sports a
cover of Rita Hayworth billed as the
“Best-Dressed Girl in Hollywood.” Up
towards the top of the cover, beneath
the logo and a blurb for an article in
which bandleader Tommy Dorsey
answers Artie Shaw on the subject of
jitterbugs, is this caption:
“‘SUPERMAN’ Captures Hitler and
Stalin.” (Bear in mind the world
situation in early 1940: World War II
has broken out in Europe but France
hasn’t fallen yet, Hitler and Stalin are
still allies, and the uneasily neutral
United States won’t enter the war for
another year and a half.)

I knew the Superman strip wasn’t a
forgery because I had seen it before, but
couldn’t remember where. I recalled
seeing ads in the Comics Buyer’s Guide
from Danny Fuchs of Brooklyn, who
bills himself “America’s Foremost
Superman Collector.” I’m ready to go
along with him there, because in
response to my query he sent me
something that turned out to be an
important piece of the puzzle.

Nazi Minister of Propaganda Joseph Goebbels, seated beneath
a portrait of his Führer, Adolf Hitler, his own image reflected
in a shiny tabletop.

Inside, we find a 3-page feature, two
pages of it given over to a Superman
comic strip written and drawn

32

A Box of Markers and
Tummy Tattoos
A Brief Interview With Cover Artist MICHAEL GOLDEN
by Renée Witterstaetter

A

rtist Michael Golden is known for his hard-hitting
and dynamic art style that seems to evolve with each
decade. He cuts away the excess and maintains the
true essentials of a piece. These techniques, coupled with his
signature storytelling construction, have garnered him a legion
of devotees, that number fans of the genre, and contemporaries
as well. Golden’s work has appeared in The ’Nam, Micronauts,
Dr. Strange, Nightwing, Detective Comics, and upcoming
runs on Heroes for Hire and Iron Man, among much more.
Other milestones in his career include the co-creation of
“Bucky O’Hare” and The X-Men’s Rogue, and covers featuring
Batman, Captain America, Vampirella, and many others.
“I’m the one they come to when they want one of those covers
with a thousand characters on them,” he laughs.

Current and future projects include
Heroes and Villains Sketchbook from
Brand Studios and Eva Ink; Modern
Masters in the Studio with Michael
Golden from TwoMorrows; The
Creator Chronicles Interview—DVD
Two Disc Set from Woodcrest
Productions/EvaInk, and the topselling Excess: The Art of Michael
Golden from Vanguard this summer.
Since Michael’s professional career to
date is basically within the time-frame
franchise of our sister magazine Back
Issue rather than of Alter Ego, we
asked his publisher and long-time
editor and collaborator Renée
Witterstaetter to talk with Michael
about his take on Superman, since we
were pleased and proud to be
featuring a cover of his on this issue.
Somehow, they never quite got around
to actually discussing the Man of
Steel—but we did want to present
these few autobiographical
paragraphs. And hey, Michael’s
gorgeous cover speaks for itself!

RENÉE WITTERSTAETTER: Thanks
for taking time to sit down with us, Michael. I know you don’t do many
interviews, but we’ve worked together a long time, and I appreciate that
you sat down for Alter Ego. How did you get started in the business
back in the 1970s?
MICHAEL GOLDEN: Hey, anything for Roy Thomas! Where I grew up,
there were not a lot of comic books; they just weren’t available. The first
comic I ever saw was a Tin Tin book my mother bought for me. Later in
life, I was doing commercial art, and filling up a lot of my time painting
vans and murals and surfboards in Florida, and that somehow led to
working in comics. There was a guy who was a friend of a friend, who saw
my stuff and introduced me to a friend of his who was working for DC
Comics in the ’70s. He said, “Well, you know, you do some, like, really
great comic book stuff.” I’m paraphrasing, of course. [laughs] I didn’t
really think of my work being transferable to comics, so that gave me
pause. To me, I was just telling stories. So, anyway, this person put me
into contact with his friend, who turned around and lost my portfolio at
Continuity, [which is] Neal Adams’ Continuity studio. Never saw it again;
no fault of Neal’s, mind you. Even so, Neal was constantly bugging me to
get me to come up to New York.
RW: You were an immediate hit!
GOLDEN: I got a lot of work really quickly, and some of it is considered

35

“Maybe I’m In The
Wrong End Of This
Business!”
LOU CAMERON Tells About Drawing
Comics During The Fabulous ’50s
Interview Conducted by Jim Amash

L

ou Cameron was a comic book artist during much of the 1950s,
drawing for Ace, Story, St. John, DC, Timely, Classics Illustrated
(a.k.a. Gilberton), et al. As “Tabor Evans,” Lou created the
popular “Longarm“ Western paperbacks, having written nearly half of
the 350 novels in that series. He has also written numerous other books
in the Western and crime genres. His work in and outside of comics is

Transcribed by Brian K. Morris
striking and unforgettable. The same can be said for Lou himself, who
has given us a frank and revealing look into the places he worked for, the
people he knew, and of his place in the four-color strata of his times.
Blunt, candid, and brilliant, I think Lou is one of the most interesting
interview subjects Alter Ego has presented. My only regret is that we
don’t have room for our off-tape discussions on politics, religion, war,
American history, and society, because Lou is as thought-provoking as
anyone I know. An appreciative “thank you” goes to the co-editor of the
original Who’s Who in American Comic Books, Hames Ware, for his
suggestions and comments—and a special thanks to Arthur Lortie, who
first put me in touch with Lou Cameron. This is the first part of a twopart Interview. —Jim.

“The Artwork Came First”
JIM AMASH: When and where were you born?
LOU CAMERON: June 20, 1924, San Francisco.
JA: Since you were a writer and an artist, it’s almost like what came
first, the chicken or the egg?
CAMERON: The artwork came first. Well, first of all, I started writing to
have stuff to illustrate. I was illustrating stuff for the men’s adventure
books, and I thought, “Good God, I could write this”: “There I was,
hanging by my fingernails on the side of Mount Everest while the
Abominable Snowman spit on me.” I said to myself, “How did I ever get
in this situation? Who is the guy who’s getting paid for this?” [mutual
laughter] So I started writing them, and I found it was just as easy.
After I had discovered that writers seemed to be getting their checks
better and faster, the absolute decision came as I was working on a
paperback book for Ace. Bernie Baily was packaging it, and I was illustrating. He handed me a short story and said, “We can get the rights from
the estate of Theodore Sturgeon,” and he gave it to me to illustrate. I said,
“I read this when I was in high school.” It was a classic science-fiction
short story, so I asked, “He gets paid again?” I would do a cover and that
was it. That was the end of the story behind the books. And when it’s

gone, it’s gone. So that began to get
my juices thinking: “Maybe I’m in the
wrong end of this business!” I first
started writing about 1958. I started
drawing comics in 1950, and after six
or seven years in the business, I
began to write.

“Maybe I’m In The Wrong End Of This Business!”

“I Introduced You To
These People, And
They’re Screwing You”
JA: The packager you worked for: what
year are we talking about?

CAMERON: 1950. I’d just been in New
York about six months. Anyhow, Marvin
told me about this coloring service that
he worked for on the side. They had the
CAMERON: Yes. I was World War II,
service where they put in the coloring.
and then I stayed in the Army after
The shop was run by Pat Masulli and his
the war. I went in right after Pearl
partner, Hubie. Marvin had me come
Harbor. I left on my 18th birthday,
down to see them. They wanted
1942.
somebody who could do some inking. I
picked up some stuff and I got paid; I
JA: What branch of the service were
can’t argue about that. But then, they
you in?
were stalling me around, and finally Billy
Friedman [publisher of Story Comics]
CAMERON: You name it! [chuckles]
had a fight with a writer whom they
That’s a long, involved story. I joined
knew, but I can’t remember his name. He
the Aviation Cadets. I washed out
had written a script. He needed a fast
and wound up at the end of the war
fifty bucks, and so Pat Masulli, who was
in the Second Armored Division.
a schemer, said, “What we’ll do is we’ll
Then I came home, bummed around
send
them another guy with this script,
for a year, and, you know, eleven
The Middle Of A Long Hitch
and he’ll get the $50 for you by using his
million people were all mustered out
Lou in uniform, circa May 1945. He was in the armed services from
name.” So they said, “Cameron, go up to
at the same time. So I said to hell
1942 till not long before the Korean War started (1950). He says this
Friedman’s office and deliver this script.”
with it; I went back in, and I did
photo was taken by someone from Yank magazine, not long after a
I said, “For what?” They said, “Well, we’ll
bunch of German soldiers had surrendered to his company—hence
another hitch.
give you a piece of the action. We’ll give
the German officer's cap and P-38 pistol (so called because it was
I liked the Army; I just didn’t like
you five bucks, ten percent.” They
originally issued in 1938). Photo courtesy of Lou.
the people in it. Everything was okay,
wanted me to tell Friedman that I had
except for some of the officers. I got disgusted, and I got out just in time
written this script. I said, “Wait a minute! You want me to go tell profesto miss Korea. At that time, I was an instructor at the Infantry School in
sional Madison Avenue lawyers a big fat fraud lie? I’m supposed to go up
Fort Lewis, Washington, and I was a Platoon Sergeant for the I&R—
there and lie to a real honest-to-God lawyer for five bucks? I wouldn’t
Intelligence and Reconnaissance Platoon, 38th Infantry. They got wiped
hold up a candy store for five bucks.” I said, “No way. I’ll tell you what I’ll
out to the last man in Korea. My then-wife saved me. She said she was
do. If I can sell them on my artwork, I'll sell them the script.” And they
going to leave me if I re-upped. So when my hitch was up, I left, and just
said, “Well, if you can sell them on your artwork, go ahead.”
missed the Korean War.
Billy Friedman had done a lot of work for the comic book people
JA: Close call there! Before you got into comic books, had you done any
during the war, getting them paper and stuff, so he knew his way around,
professional work?
and finally decided, “Hell, I can do this myself.” [chuckles] And so he
started publishing. They weren’t a big outfit, but Billy was very fair to his
CAMERON: Yes. I had done some drawing as a hobby, and I decided to
freelancers. They paid, and I never had any trouble with them. So he was
see what I could do. I got a job painting lamps that one bought at Macy’s,
publishing, he was buying manuscripts and the artwork, which was done
for the Wilmar Lamp Company. I got a quarter a lamp, and they got $7
at home, freelance. And then he would put the thing together, and I think
more if it was hand-decorated, signed by the artist. We’d painted these
he had Koppel Engraving do it for him. He had just this little publishing
lamp bases with ceramic paint, they put them in the oven and baked
house, and he had a law suite. He was a big lawyer. He was on 44th and
them. I was working up in the Bronx painting lamps, and one of the kids
Madison. In one of his back rooms, he had set up a little publishing house.
who worked there part-time was a packer. He had another part-time job
in, I guess you would call it a “sweatshop.” They did lettering, color
Anyway, I went uptown on the Madison Avenue bus, and knowing I
separation, and agented artwork. You name it, they did it. So this kid
was going to be lying to these people, and knowing they were lawyers,
named Marvin where I worked introduced me to them. They gave me
having never met any of them before, I read the script. I thought, “Well,
some freelance work, inking over someone else’s penciling. It was a
I’ve got to know what this script is about.” I still remember it: this man
schlock shop.
had a cruel, mean wife. Vania was her name, and she and her lover
murdered the guy, but he comes back from the grave, and he takes him in
There were a lot of guys like that. There were people in very, very lowthe crematorium with her—pretty bad stuff. Tales of Terror was the comic
budget publishing. There was one guy who published magazines from a
book. [NOTE: Actually, the comic was Dark Mysteries. See art on next
corner table in Laurant’s Restaurant. [mutual laughter] You’d go in and
page.] I went up there expecting to be questioned about it and no, they
see him, and you’d sit down and have a drink with him. Needless to say, I
didn’t question it. They said, “Okay, we’ll look it over, and we’ll send you a
didn’t work with him. He was giving me the routine, “We can’t pay very
check.” I said, “Now, what about the artwork?” I had taken some samples
much, but we can keep you busy.” No, no, no, no! The guy lasted for just a
with me. He called his law and business partner Nat Rothstein in.
very short while. He was foreign, and published a book called Bounty
Friedman said, “This guy’s a triple threat. What do you think?” Rothstein
Magazine for about two or three issues.
looked at the sample and said, “Yeah, pretty good. If you can draw on this
level, sure, go ahead.”
JA: That means you were about 26
years old when you started in comic
books.

55

W

hat if… instead of selling his half of All-American
Publications to National/DC co-publishers Harry
Donenfeld and Jack Liebowitz in 1945, Max Charles
Gaines had instead purchased DC from them? That’s the premise of this
inventive fantasy series previously seen in Alter Ego #76 & 78, and in
our TwoMorrows sister mag Back Issue #28 and future issues—and set
on an “Earth-22” where events in the comics field happened a bit differently from the way they unfolded in the world we know. Author Bob
Rozakis was a longtime writer, editor, and production director for DC…

The Secret History
of All-American
Comics, Inc.
Book One - Chapter 3: The 1940s-50s Media Blitz
by Bob Rozakis

A

nthony (“Tony”) Allan is a noted
author, whose books record the
multi-media adventures of the AllAmerican Comics characters. He has written
liner notes for collections of radio recordings,
as well as DVD collections of the TV series.
He is currently working on I Saw It on the
Radio, a timeline history detailing which
elements of the comic books actually came
A recent photo of
from the radio programs and other media, to
pop-culture author
Tony Allan.
be published later this year by TwoMorrows.
In this installment, Tony answers Bob
Rozakis’ questions about the radio, comic strip, movie, and television
adventures of Green Lantern, The Flash, and the rest of the AA Universe
in the 1940s and ’50s.

BOB ROZAKIS: A lot of people think The Adventures of Green
Lantern TV show in the ’50s was the first
time an AA character appeared outside the
comic books. I know that was my first
impression.
TONY ALLAN: Oh, there was a lot more, as
you have since learned.
BR: [laughs] Yes, much of it I now own,
thanks to DVDs and audio CDs. So it was
the Fleischer cartoons that came first?
ALLAN: The first Green Lantern appearances, yes. What a lot of people don’t know is
that Max and Dave Fleischer’s original

Holding Pattern
Fleischer Studios’ proposed animated
Superman series never made it past the stage
of this test reel, prepared in 1940. It was first
printed in Les Daniels’ 1995 coffee table book
All-American Comics: Sixty Years of the World’s
Favorite Comic Book Heroes.

intention was to do Superman cartoons. They had worked out the deal
with Harry Donenfeld and Jack Liebowitz, and there was even some
preliminary animation done. Because of potential legal issues, very little
was done beyond the opening sequence. It is believed that the early
scripts for these cartoons were rewritten to star Green Lantern and
Wonder Woman. According to people I’ve interviewed, Jerry Siegel got
wind of the cartoon deal and went to Donenfeld to ask what his and Joe
Shuster’s cut was going to be. Whatever amount Donenfeld told him,
Siegel decided it wasn’t enough and started talking about suing.
BR: So that could have been the first time the idea of a lawsuit over who
owned Superman might have come up?
ALLAN: Probably. As the story was told to me, Siegel called Fleischer
directly, but there is no one alive who can confirm that. In any case, Max
Fleischer shows up at the offices and says he’s canceling the deal because
DC couldn’t guarantee there wouldn’t be any trouble over who owned the
rights.

56

The 1940s-50s Media Blitz

A Comic Cavalcade—At The Movies!
A trio of Fleischer cartoon images from the early 1940s, starring the three
cover stars of AA’s oversize title Comic Cavalcade. (Clockwise from above:)
Green Lantern fights back against an early laser beam… Wonder Woman
faces the robot Adam-5… and, in a cel never seen in your friendly
neighborhood theatres, The Flash races through the streets carrying Joan
Williams. The story is that, if not for the Fleischers’ financial problems, The
Flash would’ve been the third AA hero to make it to the big screen—albeit in
seven-minute segments. From the collection of Alex Wright.

Remember, M.C. Gaines was still partners with Donenfeld and
Liebowitz in All-American at that point, so he’d been in on the negotiations. This was a sizable chunk of licensing money they’d be losing, along
with whatever additional sales of the comics it might bring. As Fleischer is
about to walk out the door, Gaines says, “We have other characters! Why
not use them instead?” And he tosses some issues of Sensation and AllAmerican on the table.
BR: Books containing “his” characters.
ALLAN: Exactly. It’s likely that Donenfeld would have preferred to pitch
Batman or Starman—characters in the DC titles—but Gaines was just
faster on the uptake. Fleischer must’ve liked what he saw in Green
Lantern and Wonder Woman, because they ended up doing 17 cartoons
in all over the next few years.
BR: Well, there was a Superman radio show, wasn’t there?
ALLAN: Right. It started in 1940 and ran on the Mutual Network till the
spring of 1942. They canceled it at that point, and the official story was
that it was not popular. The unofficial version is that Siegel tried to get
involved when the contract came up for renewal, and Mutual had the
same reservations that the Fleischers had had over the cartoon deal.
BR: Which better explains how The Flash went on the air instead, in
August of ’42.
ALLAN: Yes, with the same actors that had been on the Superman show.
Bud Collyer played The Flash on radio for about eight years.
Green Lantern started showing up on the radio show from time to
time. Mostly, they did that to give Collyer a vacation. Lantern’s powers
didn’t adapt too well to radio, though. I mean, when Flash was racing
around, they could do a “whoosh” sound. But when Lantern was in
action, someone would have to say, “Oh, look! Green Lantern is using his
ring to melt the gun!”
BR: What about comic strips?

ALLAN: Lots of them. It’s funny, Siegel and Shuster tried selling
“Superman” as a comic strip for years and nobody wanted it. Then, two
years after Action Comics #1, he was in the newspapers. The strip lasted
until early ’43, about the time Siegel got drafted. He’d been writing it up to
that point. Again, the unofficial story revolves around money. Even
though he was no longer going to be writing the strip, Siegel expected to
get paid for it. Donenfeld was going to have someone else write it,
someone he’d have to pay, and balked at the additional expense.
Green Lantern had grown in popularity thanks to the cartoons by this
point, so he made a “guest appearance” and then took over the strip.
Lantern ran in the papers till about 1960.
BR: What other characters had strips?
ALLAN: They started running a Batman strip in 1943 and it ran for three
years. It ended when Bob Kane split from DC. Rather than decide who
they were supposed to pay, the syndicate dropped the strip. I’ve found
samples done for a Wonder Woman strip from the mid-’40s, but it never
got off the ground.
There was a Flash strip while the radio show was on, but it was not
widely syndicated. When it was canceled, Flash started making guest
appearances in the Lantern strip. You know, it’s funny. Comic book fans
look at Comic Cavalcade #64 in 1954 as the first team-up of Flash and
Green Lantern—outside the Justice Society, of course—when, in fact, they
were palling around on radio and in the comic strip for years before that!
BR: Is that your subtle way of sneaking in a plug for your next book?

The Secret History of All-American Comics, Inc.—Book One - Chapter 3

57

ALLAN: [chuckles] Um, I guess it is.
BR: So what can you tell us about the
movie serials?
ALLAN: The first one was in 1948. It was
just called Green Lantern and starred Kirk
Alyn as Lantern. A character actor named
Edward Brophy played Doiby Dickles,
which was fitting since Doiby was
supposedly based on Brophy! And Noel
Neill played Irene Miller, who was Alan
Scott’s girlfriend in the early days.
As you probably know, Noel Neill came
in to play Cathy Crain in the second
season of the TV show, after Phyllis Coates
left. There’s a cute in-joke that the writers
planted in her first episode. Lantern gets
whacked in the head with a bat and is
unconscious. When he comes to, Cathy is
there and he says, “I know you from
somewhere.” She says, “I’m Cathy.” And he
says, “Why did I think you had another
name?”
BR: [laughs] Because the last time he saw
her, she was Irene Miller! I remember
watching that episode and thinking at the time
that it was just their way of showing GL was still
confused after being knocked out.

Three To Get Ready…

ALLAN: That was the serial where Green Lantern fought the Spider Lady.
There were a lot of fist fights and not too much use of the ring. Any time
he used it—as well as any time he flew—they did it with animation.
The second serial, Atom Man vs. Green Lantern, came out in 1950.
That was the one where they actually used Vandal Savage from the comic
books. It was Kirk Alyn and Noel Neill in that one too, with Lyle Talbot
playing Vandal Savage.

A studio shot done for the Adventures of Green Lantern movie serial, with
Noel Neill as Irene Miller, Kirk Alyn (in blond wig) as Green Lantern, and
Edward Brophy as Doiby Dickles—juxtaposed with another photo of Brophy.
Irwin Hasen, the second artist to regularly draw “Green Lantern” stories,
visually designed Doiby and based him on that character actor, who had
appeared in such films as The Champ (1931), Freaks (1932), and The Thin
Man (1934)—and was the voice of Timothy Q. Mouse in Walt Disney’s 1941
animated feature Dumbo. Movie still from the collection of Alex Wright.

The Daily Show
Two-thirds of a mid-1940s Green Lantern daily, drawn by the hero’s co-creator, Martin Nodell, and repro'd from a photocopy of the original art. The strip
was later ghosted by Irwin Hasen, before he moved on to his 30+-year stint as the artist/co-creator of Dondi.

Comic Fandom Archive
Bill Schelly here. John Ryan was an Australian fan who, along with his
South African correspondent John Wright, helped to make the new comics
fandom truly “international” during the early 1960s. Unfortunately, he
passed away suddenly in 1979, just after the publication in his native
country of his hardcover book Panel by Panel: An Illustrated History of
Australian Comics, which was a valuable source of information and art

67

for Michael Baulderstone’s coverage of Oz’s colorful comic book heroes in
Alter Ego #51. Three issues ago, his fan-friend Howard Siegel wrote
about Ryan’s life and career, which included fanzines and the 1979 book,
as well as articles written in other fields. This time, John Wright, who
published fanzines in the 1960s and went on to become a successful
novelist, celebrates his comrade, nearly three decades after his death….

Our Digger Mate
“I

by John Wright

’ve always thought I
was some sort of nut,”
was the way John
introduced himself in his
aerogramme of August 18, 1963.
“To be perfectly honest,” he went
on, “I was always a little ashamed
that I collected comics... for I had
no idea that comics had so many
devotees.”
His words echoed those of so
many others, including my own.
At that time John had managed
to get through 32 summers
without losing his bachelorhood—
a status that would soon change.
When we ‘met,’ John was employed
as a Production Planner for the
Hardie Rubber Company, a
position he described as:

“Pretty good—although I must
admit I seem to have a built-in
aversion to work. In fact, it’s only a
mad desire I have to keep from
starving, that I work at all.”
Right then I knew we were
destined to become good mates. Just
as I knew that that offering was but
a mix of one part truth and a heap
of buffalo chips. An aversion to
having to work for a salary does not
necessarily imply laziness.
Some 13 years later, when I’d
chosen to quit the business world
and risk the life of a freelance writer and consultant, he confessed: “I used
to quite enjoy being unemployed—and only found myself another job
because the money was running out. I used to read, write, and go to the
daytime movies two or three times a week... stay up late and sleep late. I
didn’t mind it one little bit. I’ve always said that I missed my vocation in
life. I should have been born the lazy, shiftless son of an indulgent
millionaire.”
Again, this was but more of the above-mentioned mix, for by then
John Ryan had proved he was never lacking in drive and enthusiasm. He
was, I believe, something of a fireball. In retrospect, I often wonder if he
perhaps heard the clock ticking and set himself a pace in order to achieve
just a few of the things he wanted to get done.

He’d been a keen
sportsman, trying most
sports that were available to
him. By the age of 32,
however, he’d wisely elected
to leave participation in
some of the contact games
to the “younger” generation, confining himself to
social tennis, ten-pin
bowling, and the
occasional trip to the
Snowy Mountains for brief
skiing holidays.
He was an avid reader and already a published writer, with articles
relating to boxing, football, and cricket appearing in the likes of The
Australian Ring and Sports Novels.
Amateur dramatics was another involvement, and there he enjoyed
featured roles in such productions as Noel Coward’s Hay Fever. It was, if I
correctly remember, in amateur theatre where he met his lovely Jan—a
meeting which resulted in a union that would continue for 15 happy
years, blessing the couple with two children, Sean and Fiona, of whom
they were immensely proud.
Not only was he already a serious comic book collector, but he’d
actively pursued his interest, not merely to add to what was already a
substantial collection, but to gain further knowledge of artists and writers.

“Us Colonials”
was one of the ways
John often referred
to him and me. And
at that time indeed
we were. Another of
a number of things
we quickly found out
about each other was
that we enjoyed the
same type of music,
that we spoke the
same language and
would never have any
need to pussyfoot
around each other. A
spade was a spade,
never a garden
implement. On
occasion we may
unintentionally have
ruffled the feathers of a
few overly sensitive
parties.
In this regard he
once wrote: “When you
say that I’m ’ornery
enough’ to sound off if
something rubs me the
wrong way, it just goes
to show how well you’ve
come to know me... over
the years.”

Back in 1948, for instance, with the hope of filling gaps in his
collection, he’d been in contact with Bob Powell in a quest to secure
certain back issues of Speed Comics—particularly those in which Mr.
Powell had worked on the “Shock Gibson” feature.

Uh-huh. Just as I
knew the essential John Ryan to be a gentle, caring soul, possessed of a
wonderful sense of humor—someone who would bend backward to help
others, whose hand of friendship was ever outstretched.

This was another area in which we found ourselves on common
ground. Though we liked all American comic books, even the pretty bad
ones, we had a rather special fondness for the Fox and Harvey titles and a
number of the second banana heroes.

When it came to expressing opinions about Golden and Silver Age
comics, we were again in accord—particularly insofar as feeling the
current artwork on certain well-established characters seemed a bit too
effeminate for our tastes.

As for adding to his collection...
During the 1958 visit to Britain, to which Howard has already referred,
included in that “great stack of comics” John took home with him was a
copy of Marvel Comics #1—an item he’d found in a pokey little book
shop in Soho.
Indeed that was a find, but back in those good old times, even after the
first appearance of Alter-Ego and the birth of fandom, few of us thought
too deeply about “valuable collectibles.” The Overstreet Price Guide had
yet to become a reality, and eBay was not so much as a twinkle in the eye
of a mother-to-be.
We pursued those things in which we had genuine interest, the
things—so often indefinable—that warmed the heart and brightened a
day. We shared and helped. I gave John my duplicate copies of Fantastic
Four #1, Amazing Fantasy #15… the books in which Iron Man, Thor,
Ant-Man, etc., first appeared. John sent me Aussie comics I’d never before
seen, Golden Age titles—and never ever was there any mention of “trade.”
(It has never been clear to me why so many of my closest and most
valued friends should be people I have yet to meet. So, long ago, I quit
questioning it and simply continue to remain grateful.)

Soon after we became acquainted, John decided to launch his own
fanzine, which he’d title Down Under. As with everything he undertook,
he devoted himself fully to it, and the result was a whole lot more than
just a very fine zine. But, though I have no recall of us ever discussing
this, I got the feeling that Down Under had not been sufficient to satisfy
his needs of expression.
He had a great deal to tell and to share, and he found outlets for this in
excellent articles for other fanzines, in columns and newsletters such as
Bidgee, Bonzer, Boomerang, and others.
Along the way he was not only making contact with many Aussie
artists, often having them as guests in his home, as frequently providing
both help and advice—sometimes dipping deep into his private coffer in
order to finance projects in which he truly believed. It was starting to
become difficult to keep up with him!
By then John was a family man with increasing responsibilities. He was
also in a new job, working as Sales Manager for Firestone, and had moved
to Mount Gravatt, Queensland. All these changes were cutting deeply into
his time, demanding necessary adjustments to his lifestyle. Eventually
they would force him to withdraw from certain activities, but instead of
slowing down he simply shifted his focus to other comic book-related
interests.

In Memoriam

71

Steve
Gerber
(1947-2008)
“In Every Sense Of The Word, A Friend”

S

A Tribute by Mark Evanier

teve Gerber died in Las Vegas on Monday night, February 11, after
a long, painful illness.

For the past year or so, he was in and out of hospitals there and had
just become a “candidate” for a lung transplant. He had pulmonary
fibrosis, a condition that literally turns the lungs to scar tissue and steadily
reduces their ability to function. Steve insisted that his affliction had
nothing to do with his lifelong, incessant consumption of tobacco, an
addiction he only recently quit for reasons of medical necessity. None of
his friends believed that, but Steve did.
I mention that because, in the thirty or so years I knew him, that was
the only time I ever saw Steve perhaps divorced from reality. He was a
sharp, brilliant human being with a keen understanding of people. In
much that he wrote, he chose to depart
from reality or (more
often) to warp it in
those extreme ways that
make us understand it
even better. But he
always did so from his
underlying premise as a
smart, decent guy. I like
almost everyone I’ve
ever met in the comic
book industry, but I
really liked Steve.
Stephen Ross Gerber
was born in St. Louis,
Missouri, on September

20, 1947. A longtime fan of comic books, he was involved in the
ditto/mimeo days of fanzine publishing in the 1960s, issuing one called
Headline at age 14. He had a by-mail friendship with Roy Thomas, who
was partly responsible for the most noteworthy fanzine of that era, Alter
Ego. Years later, when Roy was the editor at Marvel Comics, he rescued
Steve from a crippling career writing advertising copy, bringing him East
as a writer and assistant editor. Steve soon distinguished himself as one of
the firm’s best scripters, handling many of their major titles at one time or
another but especially shining on The Defenders, Man-Thing, Omega the
Unknown, “Morbius the Living Vampire,” a special publication about the
rock group Kiss… and, of course, Howard the Duck.
Howard, born in Steve’s amazing mind and obviously autobiographical
to a large degree, took the industry by storm. The creation was in many
ways a mixed blessing to his creator. It led to an ugly and costly legal
battle over ownership, which Steve settled out of court. It led to the
occasional pains when he returned from time to time to the character
and, due to reasons external and internal, found that he could not go
home again. It also led to the sheer annoyance of watching the 1986
motion picture Howard the Duck (produced with minimal involvement
on Steve’s part) open to withering reviews and dreadful business. Still, the
comics issues he did are widely regarded as classics… and Howard is often
cited as a character whom only Steve could make work.
After he left Marvel under unpleasant circumstances in the mid-1970s,
Steve worked for me for a time at Hanna-Barbera, writing comic books,
many of which were published by Marvel. An editor at the company had
loudly vowed that the work of Steve Gerber would never again appear in
anything published by Marvel. Just to be ornery, we immediately had
Steve write a story for one of the H-B comics I was editing, and it was

How To Crack
Open A Soft-Boiled
Egg – Part 2
Basil Wolverton’s Son
Monte Talks About His
Father’s Fawcett Work

C

Interview Conducted by P.C. Hamerlinck

artoonist Basil Wolverton (1909-78) was one of the most
unique artists in the history of comics. While best known for
such features as “Spacehawk” and “Powerhouse Pepper” at
other companies, his half-page humor filler strip “The Culture
Corner,” produced for Fawcett Publications from 1945-52 and
innocently sandwiched in between Captain Marvel and the other
stalwart heroes of Whiz Comics, was, as I said last month, groundbreaking, laugh-inducing, and highly idiosyncratic, as was his other
Fawcett filler feature, “Mystic Moot and his Magic Snoot.” Here,
continued from last issue, is my e-mail conversation with Basil’s son
Monte. Thanks to Monte for the photos and other rare art accompanying this interview. —P.C. Hamerlinck.

P.C. HAMERLINCK: In his later years, did your father ever express
what he felt was his finest artistic achievement of his career?

“Mutants” illustration, originally done for The Plain Truth, but unpublished until appearing on the cover of Graphic Story Magazine #14. His
favorite single comic book illustration was the cover of Weird Tales of the
Future #3 (1952), with the corpse rising from the grave.

MONTE WOLVERTON: No doubt about it, he felt that The Bible
Story—text and art—was his best work. His single favorite work was the

PCH: Did he have any particular preference as to which comic book
company he did work for?
WOLVERTON: I never heard him express
any favorite publishers. He liked Timely;
they gave him a lot of work. But he also
said that he never understood their
policies (if any) about how they chose what
feature they would place in what magazine.
At the time, it seemed to him that they put
all their art in a barrel, and then reached in
and grabbed something when they needed
it. In his correspondence with Stan Lee (his
editor for years at Timely), it sometimes
seemed like they were changing their
policies week by week, although Stan was
just following orders from above. Why, for
example, would they place “Powerhouse
Pepper” (obviously more of a guy feature)
in girl comics such as Tessie the Typist,
Gay, and Millie the Model—and then say
that their surveys indicated my dad’s work
was getting low readership?
Another example: Stan tells my dad to
hold off on the funny little signs and goofy
rhymes; a few weeks later they want his
work saturated with the same. One week

82

Basil Wolverton’s Son Monte Talks About His Father’s Fawcett Work

they tell him they won’t need any more of his work; the next week they
want a new feature with new characters overnight. I think they were just
trying to keep up with the changing preferences of their readers—but no
wonder my dad developed high blood pressure in the 1940s!
PCH: Plop! was the only occasion your father had work published by
DC Comics. Was he happy to still find a home in comic books in the
1970s? Were his Plop! covers existing portfolio pieces or specifically
drawn for DC?
WOLVERTON: They were drawn specifically for Plop!, and he enjoyed
that immensely. That was at a time when he really wanted to do more of
that kind of work, and he looked at it as a welcome alternative after
working on Biblical stuff all day. He could do pretty much anything he
wanted for DC and go completely crazy. He was also doing similar
commissioned work for collector Glenn Bray during that time, as well as
Topps’ various novelty items.
PCH: Are you pleased with the treatment given to your father’s work in
The Original Art of Basil Wolverton book?
WOLVERTON: [Wolverton collector] Glenn Bray invited me to see the
book and give input at every stage of production. I think it’s the best
Wolverton book so far. Glenn put a huge amount of work into it, as well
as designer Brigitte McDonald, who did an outstanding job, and Andrea
Harris-McGee. who consulted on the design and curated the accompanying exhibit at the Grand Central Art Gallery in Santa Ana, CA. L.A.
Weekly art critic Doug Harvey’s introduction was also superb and
insightful.
PCH: Did your mother also have a sense of humor similar to your
father’s—and what did she think of his comic book creations?
WOLVERTON: My mom appreciated my dad’s humor, but her sense of
humor was not at all similar to his. She had a more homespun, countrystyle humor. Nor was she a fan of horror or science-fiction, but she was
always amused by what my dad came up with. They kind-of complemented each other.
PCH: I assume your father was much more mild-mannered than the
disturbing, distorted reality of his artwork.
WOLVERTON: In some ways, his personality wasn’t anything like his
art—or the extreme aspect of his art. Judging from his Plop! covers, for
example, one might conclude that here is a guy who should be institutionalized, lobotomized, or at least given some strong medication. But as a
human being I would describe him as level-headed, socially conservative,
and affable. He was a good judge of character—was a popular guy with
lots of friends and acquaintances in his home town, and in his church
community. He would give people the benefit of the doubt, but he would
let his family know in no uncertain terms if he thought someone was
arrogant or untrustworthy.
PCH: The cutting edginess of “The Culture Corner” certainly put it at
odds amongst more sanitized strips, including its companion Whiz
Comics features. Do you feel your father’s work was somewhat of a
precursor to Mad and other satirical-based humor?
WOLVERTON: “Culture Corner” had a strong component of goofiness,
whereas Mad was (and is) satire. My dad appreciated satire, but excelled
more at outrageous goofiness—which is why Mad used his work
occasionally, but not a lot. They wanted satire to predominate. I think you
need to be somewhat cynical to produce good satire (including political
cartoons), and my father was not a cynic.
PCH: You’ve mentioned that your father felt that his Biblical illustrations were his best work. How did he first come about producing this
artwork? Given his original cartooning art style, was it difficult for him
to shift gears when creating his Biblical interpretations? Did he receive

feedback on his Bible art from people familiar with his comic book
material? Will this important work be reprinted again?
WOLVERTON: For the last year and a half, I’ve been working on a
volume that will include all the work my dad did for Worldwide Church
of God—over 300 pages and about 600 illustrations. The working title is
The Wolverton Bible. The church commissioned and licensed this project,
which is slated to be published by Fantagraphics Books late this year. This
will include the Bible Story art, the Apocalyptic work, as well as a lot of
humorous material that he did for the WCG. Some of this has never seen
print, and some of the humorous material was not widely circulated. Of
course, in the book I’ll provide commentary with in-depth answers to
your questions (and much more!).
But to tell the story here in abbreviated form: my dad (at the time an
agnostic) began listening to radio evangelist Herbert Armstrong around
1939. He joined Armstrong’s church in 1941 and was ordained in 1943.
Over the next decade they discussed the possibility of different projects.
In the early ’50s my dad did the Apocalyptic drawings for The Plain
Truth magazine. These were also used in other church publications.
About that time he also started working on a series of illustrations of the
book of Genesis, including Noah’s Flood. This finally evolved into a
complete story of the Old Testament, which was serialized in The Plain
Truth beginning in 1958. It was later published as a series of books—and
revised and republished in the 1980s in six volumes. There was not a lot

Alter Ego #79

ALTER EGO #79 (100 pages, $6.95) is a Spotlight on Superman & His Creators! Behind a fabulous new cover by MICHAEL GOLDEN—a Kandor-size bottleful of features on the first and greatest super-hero ever! An exclusive and revealing interview with JOE SHUSTER’s sister, JEAN SHUSTER PEAVEY—LOU CAMERON interviewed—STEVE GERBER tribute—DWIGHT DECKER on the Man of Steel & Hitler’s Third Reich—plus the NEMBO KID (that’s Italian for “Superman,” to you)! Art by SHUSTER, BORING, SWAN, ADAMS, KANE, and others! There’s also more on the Golden and Silver Ages of Comics, including P.C. Hamerlinck’s FCA (Fawcett Collectors of America) section with Marc Swayze, C.C. Beck, and others, Michael T. Gilbert and Mr. Monster’s Comic Crypt, and more! Edited by Roy Thomas.